Storms litter yards as fast as homeowners can burn or unload their debris.
By JOE BLACK
Published September 13, 2004
For Ralph King, watching out for bad weather and spending weekends cleaning up yard debris after a storm are things that come with living on Pine Island.
The past month has been no exception. Hurricane Charley sent palm bark and fronds flying around his yard about a month ago. After that, Frances flooded the yard and scattered more fronds about his property.
If he's lucky, King said Saturday, he will have everything cleaned up again before Hurricane Ivan.
"It comes with living out here," King said. "I knew that when I got my place here. It's just what you deal with."
Like King, many Hernando residents spent the weekend watching the looming Ivan with trepidation, even as they recovered and cleaned up the mess left by Frances' heavy winds and downpours.
Several people said they were intently paying attention to news of Ivan as they took breaks from raking their yards and collecting other debris.
"If it happens, it happens," King said. "I'll just have to clean it up and wait for the next storm to come on in here."
Phil Whitehead, 60, of Hernando Beach, said he spent three days cleaning up after Frances. Branches had snapped off and littered his yard. A large oak had fallen. On Saturday, he said his yard had yet to completely dry.
Most of the refuse had been picked up and burned by Saturday afternoon, Whitehead said as he raked another bunch of leaves across the yard.
Pointing to a deck, Whitehead said people used to not be able to see it through the brush.
After Frances, "now it's a sun deck or something," he said.
A friend updated the former Largo resident throughout the day Saturday on the status of Ivan. If it comes, Whitehead said, he'll start the cleaning all over again.
"You do what you have to," he said. "I'm not saying I like it, but I just have to."
He added: "I'm just hoping it goes somewhere else other than Florida."
Tom Leto, Hernando emergency management director, urged residents to stay calm as the storm comes. Obviously, people are a bit edgy, he said, but more recent storm tracks show that Hernando might escape the worst of Ivan.
"We're looking okay with this one," he said. "People shouldn't have too much of a problem if it stays on this track."
Still, as residents pulled dried leaves and branches from their trucks and vans at a refuse site near Hernando Beach, they said they were expecting heavy rain and more trips in the future to get rid of storm debris.
"I bet I'll be right back out here," Spring Hill resident Sonny Sutton said. "I hope I won't be, but with the way this season's going, I'm sure I will be."
He had three large oaks fall in his yard during Frances and had two to finish cleaning up on Saturday afternoon.
He said his yard has been a mess, and that he spent much of the week raking, piling and sawing.
"Hopefully," he said, "Ivan just keeps going without doing anything to our area."
